The next few weeks past and I hardly heard anything from Mark. Even his parents couldn't contact him. All we knew was that he was still preforming in gay clubs around Manchester.
Eventually, he got in touch with me, told me he was coming home for a few nights, and wanted to take me out to dinner with his first paycheck.
'What should I wear?', I asked Hannah, when she came over to my house to help me get ready.
'Well is it a date or is it just two friends meeting up?', she asked me.
'I don't know! That's the problem!', I said, 'Should I go casual or should I dress up?'
'Well it is Saturday night', Hannah shrugged, 'It's officially date night.'
'I'm sure that's just a coincidence', I replied, 'It's just because he's at home.'
'Okay, okay', Hannah said, 'I'm going to do your hair first anyway.'
Two hours later, I was wearing a cute, pink dress, and my hair was falling in curls in cascades down my back.
'Han thank you so much', I said, as I looked in my full-length mirror in my bedroom.
'No problem Julie', Hannah smiled back at me, 'Now you go and stun that boy!'
I laughed just as I heard the door bell rang.
'That's him!', Hannah beamed, when I heard my mother open the door and welcome Mark, 'Go, go, go!'
I smiled as she rushed me out of my bedroom.
When I got to the top of the stairs I saw Mark talking to my mother in the hall. As I descended, I caught Mark's eye and be began to beam at me.
'Hey Jules!', he said.
'Hi Markie', I replied.
'You look, great!', Mark smiled, as I reached the bottom of the stairs.
'Thank you. So do you', I blushed, looking at him dressed in a cute shirt and jeans.
'Well, I'll let you two go on your way', my mother said, walking back into the kitchen, 'Have a good time!'
'Thanks Mam', I replied, stepping down the last step of the stairs so that I was beside Mark, 'Are you ready to go?'
'Sure', Mark said, and opened the door, 'Ladies first.'
'So where are we going?', I asked Mark, once we were outside.
'We are going to La Paul's', Mark replied, beaming.
'What?', I asked, 'Mark that place is really expensive! We can't go there!'
'No we can', Mark said, 'I'm in a boy band now Jules.'
'Okay, okay', I laughed, 'I should be honoured to be in your presence.'
'Exacetly', Mark smirked, 'Come on, Dad is letting me borrow his car.'
With that we got into the car, and Mark drove us into town and parked the car outside La Paul's, the most expensive restaurant in Oldham.'
Once inside, we quickly got a table, ordered, and soon enough we were eating our food.
'So how's things going with the band?', I asked Mark, as I took a sip of my drink.
'Good', Mark nodded, 'We're actually going to be releasing our first single in a couple of weeks.'
'Really?', I gasped, 'Mark that's so cool! What's it called?'
'Do What U Like'', Mark replied, 'We filmed the video for it last week.'
'I can't wait to see it!', I said.
'It's pretty, interesting', Mark replied, before starting to giggle.
'Okaaay', I said, slowly dragging out the word, 'Well, here's to 'Take That'.
'To 'Take That'!', Mark smiled, clinking his glass against mine.
A half and hour later, Mark and I finished our meal with dessert.
'I don't think I've eaten so much in my life!', I gasped, patting my stomach.
'Did you enjoy it?', Mark asked, leaving money on the table to pay for our food.
'Yeah!', I said, standing up.
'Well that's good', Mark smiled, putting his arm on my lower back and guiding me out of the restaurant.
'Are you cold?', Mark asked me, when we got outside.
'I'm fine', I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself.
'Don't be silly', Mark replied, taking off the jacket he had been wearing and put it around my shoulders.
'Thanks', I said, as the smell of Mark's aftershave hit my nose from the jacket.
'Lets go', Mark smiled, grabbing hold of my hand, and then headed towards his father's car.
Even though it was a normal occurrence for Mark and I to hold hands, I couldn't help but feel a spark when he did so.
Eventually we made it back to our street, and when Mark had parked the car in it's usual spot in front of his house, I looked over at him and said, 'Thank you Mark for tonight, I had a really good time.'
'I'm glad', Mark smiled, looking at me before sighing and saying, 'Look Julie, there was a reason why I asked you out tonight.'
'What is it?', I asked, growing worried, 'Are you okay? Are you s-'
I was cut off by Mark reaching over and kissing me.
'I'm sorry', he said, a few seconds later when we broke apart, 'But I've wanted to do that for a long time now.'
'It's, it's fine', I replied, touching my lips.
'Julie, I really, really like you', Mark admitted, 'Well obviously, and the boys and I are going to be really busy over the next few months, and I didn't want to be away from you unless I told you my true feelings. That's why I asked you out tonight.'
'Well I really like you too Mark', I smiled, 'For a while now.'
'So', Mark started, 'Will you, will you be my girlfriend Julie?'
'Yeah', I beamed, 'Yeah I will.'
With that Mark reached over and kissed me again, this time more passionately as he ran his fingers through my long brown hair.
In that moment, I never felt happier, and knew that there was a lot more of happy moments like this to come.
Unfortunately for me, there were going to be a lot less joyful too.
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Hey guys,
I know this story is starting off kind of slow, but we'll get to the main plot soon!
Thank you all for reading!
Love,
Lauren
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